Les Brown (bandleader)

Lester Raymond "Les" Brown, Sr. (March 14, 1912 – January 4, 2001)[1] was an American clarinetist,[1]saxophonist,[2]big bandleader and composer, best known for his nearly seven decades of work with the big band Les Brown and His Band of Renown (1938–2001). The Band of Renown began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils, led by Brown while he was a student at Duke University. He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.[1] The band now performs under the direction of his son, Les Brown, Jr.

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Brown was born in Reinerton, Pennsylvania.[1] He enrolled in the Conway Military Band School (later part of Ithaca College) in 1926, studying with famous bandleader Patrick Conway for three years before receiving a music scholarship to the New York Military Academy, where he graduated in 1932. Brown attended college at Duke University from 1932–1936. There he led the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils,[3] who performed regularly on Duke's campus and up and down the east coast. Brown took the band on an extensive summer tour in 1936. At the end of the tour, while some of the band members returned to Duke to continue their education, others stayed on with Brown and continued to tour, becoming in 1938 the Band of Renown. In 1942 he and his band concluded work on an RKO picture, "Sweet and Hot"; played at the Palladium Ballroom, Hollywood. A few years later, in 1945, this band brought Doris Day into prominence with their recording of "Sentimental Journey".[1] The song's release coincided with the end of World War II in Europe and became an unofficial homecoming theme for many veterans.[3] The band had nine other number-one hit songs, including "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm".

Les Brown and the Band of Renown performed with Bob Hope on radio, stage and television for almost fifty years. They did 18 USO Tours for American troops around the world, and entertained over three million people. Before the Super Bowls were televised, the Bob Hope Christmas Specials were the highest-rated programs in television history. Tony Bennett was "discovered" by Bob Hope and did his first public performance with Brown and the Band.

Brown and the Band were also the house band for The Steve Allen Show (1959–1961) and the Dean Martin Variety Show (1965–1972). Brown and the band performed with virtually every major performer of their time, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat "King" Cole. The annual Les Brown Big Band Festival, started March 2006 in Les' hometown, features area big bands preserving the songs of the big band era. At the 2012 festival celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary, the town of Reinerton renamed the street near Les' birthplace to Les Brown Lane. In 2013 the his hometown of Reinerton, PA adopted as the town's official slogan: Reinerton: The Town of Renown in honor of Les and his band.